


Zutara Week 2015

by breeeliss



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: F/M, Modern AU, One-Shot Collection, Zutara Week 2015
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-20
Updated: 2015-07-27
Packaged: 2018-04-10 08:53:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 20,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4385618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/breeeliss/pseuds/breeeliss
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of Modern AU one-shots in celebration of Zutara Week 2015 over on Tumblr. Daily updates for the next week. Day 1: Happenstance.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Happenstance

**Author's Note:**

> So in an effort to simultaneously write for Zutara Week and knock about a bunch of AU ideas I’ve had for the longest, I’m going to be doing a bunch of Modern AU one-shots for the whole seven days (and hope and pray that I actually keep up). I’ll be posting on FFN, AO3, and Tumblr, so please keep an eye out. Any and all reviews / comments will be greatly appreciated :)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If Katara knew that she was going to be crushing on someone that she met over Craigslist, she wouldn’t have bothered to believe it. Because, seriously. Who does that?

“So? Did you find it?”

Katara slammed the door to her flat shut with her back, leaning against the door, not caring that the knob was digging into her back, and slowly slid down to the floor to lay in an undignified heap. She hit the ground with a whine and promptly fell over to the side and laid down on the floor in absolute defeat. Toph peaked over the arm of the couch and raised a brow at the display. “...so that’s a no, I guess.”

Katara called out from her position on the floor, her voice coming out muffled what with her face planted against the hardwood. “I retraced my steps, I went to the pawn shop, I asked the landlord, and I even crawled on my hands on knees all over Trader Joe’s. It’s gone.” She turned her face so that she was staring at Toph who was perched on the edge of the couch’s arm with her laptop on her knees. “I lost my mother’s necklace. I’m a horrible, horrible daughter and I have nothing to live for anymore.”

It didn’t seem like Toph was taking Katara’s self-deprecating seriously, although to be fair, she never did. “Okay, Sugar Queen. The dramatics were a bit unnecessary.”

“But it’s true!” Katara bemoaned. “It could be anywhere by now, and I have no way of getting it back,” she finished with an undignified whine. All she was trying to do that morning was go shopping for some groceries and cook a nice breakfast before she spent the rest of the Sunday relaxing at home, binge watching Netflix with Toph, and staying curled up in a blanket on the couch all day until work the next morning. It was supposed to be a stress-free day. But of course, somewhere in between her leaving the grocery store and coming back into the apartment, Katara had somehow lost her mother’s necklace that she was given when she was little — probably her most prized possession.

But of course, it was probably floating in the sewers or rotting in the gutters by now. Honestly, she was usually so careful about these things and she had never before lost her necklace during the fifteen or years it had been around her neck. She was an awful person. Terrible. Despicable. It was gone forever and she wasn’t going to get it back.

“Cheer up, will you?” Toph scolded, keeping her eyes on her laptop and clearly showing less anxiety over this debacle than Katara. “It’s been gone for less than a day. It’s only the afternoon. Knowing you, you dropped it while you were getting the mail and the neighbors picked it up.”

Katara poked her head up from the floor and crawled over to the couch where Toph was sitting. “I already asked the neighbors. All of them.”

Toph raised a brow and shook her head. “Okay. You need to relax. Seriously. You already crawled on your hands and knees all over the city looking for the freakin’ thing and didn’t find it. Just chill out. Make some tea. Watch some TV. Just calm down. You’re giving me hives.”

Katara pouted and leaned her chin in the arm of the chair, wondering how relaxing was even possible at this point. “Easy for you to say. You haven’t lost the single most important thing you own. You’re just....” Katara paused and peeked at Toph’s computer. She frowned deeply. “You’re on Craigslist Missed Connections — are you _serious?_ I’m having a crisis here!”

Toph looked down at her. “First of all, don’t knock this website, it’s hilarious. Second of all, this is probably the best thing for you right now. You need something to cheer you up and distract you from something that is completely out of your control right now, to be honest. This is literally the best website to do it on.”

That opinion was certainly one that the two of them didn’t share. Sometimes, the things that Toph showed Katara from the internet that she felt were hilarious and side splitting Katara just found strange and disturbing. Maybe it was the difference in their senses of humor, but nothing about Missed Connections was hilarious or appealing. “The last thing I want to be doing right now is reading pathetic posts about people being creeps and talking about how hot and good looking the strangers they saw on the street were today.”

“That’s because you have no imagination,” Toph decided. “I mean, look, read this one: _I couldn’t take my eyes off of your legs/feet/shoes. I was hoping you would allow me to take you for a drink so you could decide if you would enjoy having me as your life partner!_ ” Toph collapsed into hysterics and fell back off the arm of the couch and into the pillows behind her. “That’s so creepy and hilarious at the same time. This website is gold!”

Katara rolled her eyes and ambled over to the kitchen. “I’m going to make flyers and have some lunch. You’re so not supportive.”

Toph called from the couch. “I really don’t think flyers are going to work. No one is that honest. This is jewelry we’re talking about. Not a dog.”

“Not helping!”

Katara slammed about the kitchen for a little while, looking for something to make for lunch that would hopefully make her feel a little better — comfort food, that cheered people up, right? — while Toph kept laughing to herself in the living room over whatever it was she was reading now. It wasn’t that Katara expected Toph to completely drop everything she was doing and worry right along with Katara, but some sympathy would be nice. Toph never did understand Katara’s intense sentimentality over his necklace or why she decided to wear it everywhere if it was _so valuable_. But still…

She was contemplating omelets when Toph called from the living room. “...hey, random question. Did you...almost get run over by a motorcycle today?”

Katara closed the fridge. She thought back. Actually, she _did_. She was crossing the street when someone zoomed by on their bike and nearly made her drop all of the groceries on the ground. He had jumped off and apologized, helping her pick up some of her things, but she was in a rush to get home that she hadn’t bothered to really give them a proper thank you. “Yeah, actually,” Katara agreed. “When I was coming back from the grocery store. How did you even know that? I didn’t say anything about it.”

“You might want to come over here then.”

Toph was holding out her laptop for Katara to look at, and she immediately picked the machine up and scrolled to the post that Toph was pointing at on the Missed Connections page.  She clicked on the ad, and was immediately met with a picture of her necklace laid on top of a wooden table.

“That’s my necklace!” Katara cried out in shock as she stared critically at the picture. It looked like the clasp was a bit snapped and the ribbon choker was a little dirty, but there was no denying the pendant. That was definitely hers. It looks like someone found it, but how.

She was about to turn and ask more questions, but Toph merely pointed to the screen. “Read the post.”

_Hey there. I don’t usually ever post on this website, but my roommate said that there might be a chance that this could work. So here goes:_

_You were crossing 15th street today when I accidentally sped by you on my red motorcycle and made you drop all of your groceries. I helped you up and collected your bags for you, but you seemed to be in a hurry and rushed off. Anyway, I think I found your necklace. It must have fell in the street while you were running off. It looked valuable so I figured I’d hold onto it for you. If you want it back, message me back with what you were wearing this afternoon and I’d be happy to return it._  

**OOO**

Katara looked down at her phone, checked the address twice, and looked up at the apartment door she was standing in front of. “Toph, this seems really sketchy.”

The other girl didn’t seem too bothered. “Well, it could be worse,” she tried to comfort. “We could be in some run down drug lord’s apartment. At least we’re in a decent neighborhood.”

“Still,” Katara hesitated. This was the reason she didn’t really work through websites like this. You never knew who it was you were going to meet. Although, compared to the rest of the ads that were on this website, the person who had found her necklace seemed to have been very nice and very sincere. Not that this meant anything, but at least that was of some comfort. She had immediately messaged him back with a description of her clothing — trying to reign in the amount of discomfort that gave her — and was immediately messaged back with an address not too far from where Toph and Katara lived, and a suggested time to meet. So far so good, but she heard a lot of Craigslist horror stories in her time. This could be a repeat of one of those scenarios.

“Look, that’s why I came with you,” Toph assured with a smirk. “If this dude tries anything, I’ll be here to back you up. Rule one of meeting strangers on the internet: always come with a friend in case the person is an axe murderer.”

Katara frowned. “You really don’t know how to cheer people up, do you?”

Toph merely shrugged. “Not my thing.” She reached over and rang the doorbell. Katara didn’t hear anything suspicious with the exception of footsteps slowly nearing the door. “Anyway, I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

There was no comfort in that assurance because Toph didn’t really know that, but Katara supposed there was no helping it. If it meant getting her mother’s necklace back, she’d try anything at this point. Besides, she supposed that having Toph here was at least a little bit of a buffer. Worst case scenario, they could just run and call the cops.

The door flung open, and the two women were met with the sight of a young man about their age with shaggy brown hair, grey eyes, and what looked to be arrows tattooed down his arms and ending at the tops of his hands. He leaned against the door casually and regarded the two visitors with a strange look. “Uh...hi? Can I help you?”

Katara cleared her throat. “Um...hi. Um...I’m Katara. I, uh...saw your ad on Missed Connections, and I think you may have found my necklace?”

It took the man a couple of seconds before his eyes lit up in recognition and he grinned at Katara. “Oh, wait, you’re Necklace Girl! Yes! See, I told Zuko this would work, but no. He thinks Missed Connections is sketchy and completely not useful.”

Toph perked up from next to Katara. “Tell this one that. She was scared we were walking straight into a trap.”

The man waved away her worries. “Oh no, trust me, this isn’t some weird scam or whatever. Zuko’s just a nice guy and he didn’t know how to find you.” He stepped aside and ushered the girls inside. “You want to wait inside? I think he’s in his room trying to fix the clasp to your choker. It broke or something.”

Katara hesitated by the doorway. “Um...no thanks. We can just...wait out here.”

The man frowned. “You sure? I swear, we’re not creeps,” he promised with his hands up in defense. “I just didn’t want to make you guys stand out in the hallway.”

Toph rolled her eyes and stepped over the threshold. “Ignore her,” she told the man at the door. “She watches too many scary movies, and her paranoia gets the best of her.”

The man shrugged. “I guess I can understand that.” He held out his hand towards Toph. “Name’s Aang, by the way. I’m Zuko’s roommate.”

Toph returned the handshake. “Toph. Nice to meet you. I’m Katara’s cover in case she gets kidnapped.”

Aang chuckled and closed the door behind Katara was she deemed the apartment safe enough to enter. “Well, at least you’re being careful.” Aang turned his head and yelled to the back of the apartment. “Zuko! Necklace Girl is here!”

A door from the back of the apartment opened suddenly and a deeper voice shouted out, “Okay, gimme a sec. Tell her to sit down or something.”

Aang regally gestured to the furniture behind him. “Sit anywhere you’d like ladies. Thirsty?”

Katara bit her lip nervously, deciding that accepting drinks from strangers probably wasn’t the best idea. She sat on the very edge of their couch and folded her hands in her lap. “No, I’m...I’m fine.”

Toph didn’t seem to share Katara’s wariness. “I’ll have a drink so long as you let me make it myself.”

Instead of being offended, Aang tipped his head back and laughed. “Okay, I guess that’s fair. Might want to leave them alone anyway. I’ll show you the kitchen.”

Toph smirked and waved lazily at Katara as she followed Aang to the back of the apartment towards the kitchen. “Look, I’ll be in plain sight. It’s a small apartment. I’ll be safe. Just get your necklace back and we can go.” She turned back to Aang and circled around an armchair to cross the doorway that led to the kitchen. She poked Aang’s arm and commented, “Cool tattoos, by the way.”

Their conversation was faint in the background while Katara looked around the apartment, waiting for this Zuko person to show up. She was fiddling through her phone, looking through texts and making sure that her phone had plenty of battery when she saw another person come into the living room out of the corner of her eye.

“Hey! Sorry to keep you waiting.”

Katara looked up, widened her eyes, and felt herself choke on her breath for a moment.

Now that she was seeing him, she did remember him. He was still wearing the same Dr. Marten boots and black pants that the motorcycle drive from this morning was wearing, and something about this frame seemed familiar to her as well. Of course, back then, his bike helmet was obscuring most of his face so there was no way she was able to see him well at all when he had first bumped into her. Of course, now that was a different story. She could see his face clearly and the first word that popped into her head when she saw him was _gorgeous_.

He was a little bit taller than his roommate and had long, choppy black hair that hung around his ears and fell slightly in front of his eyes. He had a handsome face — strong jaw line, straight nose, high cheekbones — and stunning eyes that were so light brown they looked gold in the sunlight. She had to blink a few times to make sure she was seeing that right. She didn’t think she’d ever seen eyes that color. The only thing potentially marring his features was a scar — slightly pink in color — that went over the top of his eye and stretched across one side of his face and ended where his ear started.

A burn scar, if she had to put a name to it, but it was surprising how easy it was for her to overlook something so small. He was a remarkably good looking person and he was smiling softly at her, holding out his hand in greeting.

“Zuko,” he said shortly. “And you are…?” 

“Katara,” she forced out after swallowing to clear her throat. She didn’t mean to stare and she certainly didn’t mean to ogle, but she couldn’t quite help it. She shook her head a little bit to try and clear her thought, praying to her mother in heaven that she wasn’t blushing like a little girl in front of this stranger. “Nice to meet you.”

Zuko grinned. “Very nice to meet you.” He reached into his back pocket and carefully pulled out Katara’s necklace. She let out a sigh of relief at finally being able to see in person that it was safe and sound. Zuko sat down on the edge of the coffee table in front of Katara. “I tried to clean the choker and fix the clasp for you since it was a little banged up when I found it.” He pinched either end of the choker between his fingers and held it up carefully. “It should be okay.”

Katara reached out and cradled the necklace in her hands. She could see where the clasp had probably been bent and where Zuko had straightened it out so that it could open and close properly again. The material of the choker was still a little wet from when Zuko must have been cleaning it, but it was perfectly free of any of the dirt and mar that it had when Katara saw the picture in the ad that Zuko posted. She closed her hand over it and made a silent promise to herself to be extra careful about it from now on.

She smiled at him in relief. “Thank you so much. You have no idea how out of my mind I’ve been looking for this thing.”

“Is it an heirloom or something?” Zuko asked. “It looks pretty valuable.”

Katara nodded. “It was my mom’s,” she admitted, unsure of why she felt so comfortable regaling this stranger with this information. “It’s really important to me. I don’t even know what would have happened if I had lost it for good.”

Zuko rested his elbows on his knees and smiled — a soft, subtle smile with no teeth, but all the warmth that Katara found incredibly fetching and endearing. “Well I’m glad I could help.” He paused and winced. “Oh, and sorry about almost...you know, uh...running you over this afternoon? I was in a little bit of a rush to get home and wasn’t looking where I was going.”

Katara furrowed her brows. “Yeah, I noticed,” she commented. “My groceries went flying.”

Zuko frowned and nervously rubbed at the back of his neck. “Yeah, I was trying to make the light before it turned red — I had an essay I had to submit before 3 and I was trying to get home as soon as possible — and I seriously wasn’t paying attention. You’re okay, I hope?”

“Of course,” she smiled in return. She held both of her arms out. “All in one piece, not to worry.”

He chuckled and dipped his head a little bit so that a few pieces of his hair fell in front of his eyes. “Good. I was afraid I had hurt you.”

There really was no need for Katara to stay any later than she already had — she already got her necklace and an apology — but for some reason, she suddenly didn’t want to leave just yet. She cleared her throat and asked, “You mentioned an essay...are you a student?”

Zuko nodded. “Yeah, I go to the university in Main Square. So does my roommate. We decided to get an apartment together instead of hassling around with being cramped into a tiny dorm.”

Katara felt her heart jump and she couldn’t stop herself from smiling. “Wait, I go there too! Toph and I both do. We got an apartment together near school also.”

“No kidding?” Zuko asked in surprise. “What year are you?”

 “A junior,” Katara replied. “I’m a pre-med”

 “Impressive,” Zuko commented. “I’m a junior and an econ major.” He paused for a moment laughed at himself incredulously. “I can’t believe we’re in the same graduating class. I’ve never seen you around campus.” 

Katara shrugged and started curling a lock of her hair in between her fingers. “I mean, it’s a big campus and all…”

“Still,” Zuko insisted. “That’s some coincidence. And I’m surprised I haven’t managed to see someone like you walking around before.”

“Someone like me?” Katara asked.

His eyes widened a little bit and he broke eye contact with her. “No! I mean...not like _that_ I just meant...you know. You...look like you’d stand out in a crowd. In a good way!” he added hurriedly. “You’re very...striking.”

Katara couldn’t help but laugh at Zuko’s attempts at what she assumed to be a compliment. “I think I get what you mean. That’s nice of you to say.” He smiled shyly at her, and suddenly Katara couldn’t ignore the fact that it was probably the sweetest, most endearing attempt at a compliment that she had ever heard in a while. It wasn’t too often that you ran into a guy who was so kind and soft spoken and also kind enough to actually return what looked to be a priceless piece of jewelry. It also helped that he was incredibly easy on the eyes and he happened to go the same university she did. Truly, what were the chances?

If Katara knew that she was going to be crushing on someone that she met over Craigslist, she wouldn’t have bothered to believe it. Because, seriously. Who does that? But she supposed it couldn’t have been an entirely distasteful prospect if she managed to meet someone who was attractive and polite. That had to have been some weird stroke of luck or twist of fate or something. Stuff like this just didn’t happen on a normal day to day streak.

Zuko straightened up and jutted his chin towards the kitchen. “Can I get you something to drink or eat? I feel like I owe you after making you go out of your mind with worry.”

Katara looked down back at the necklace in her lap and shrugged her shoulder. “I don’t know…” she hesitated. “I mean, I wouldn’t want to impose or anything. Besides, I came here with my friend and I wouldn’t want to hold her up or anything.”

Zuko looked back over to the kitchen and chuckled. “Something tells me your friend wouldn’t mind saying for a bit longer.”

Sure enough, when Katara looked back over to the kitchen, Toph was sitting on the counter staring down at Aang who was leaning his elbow against the counter, staring up at Toph and telling her something that must have been pretty damn hilarious because it looked like the two of them were barely holding it together trying to keep from laughing too hard. It was very rare that Toph was so at ease with other people, especially ones she had just met, but Katara was very familiar with Toph to know that she was relaxed, comfortable, and — like Zuko had said — probably not too against staying for a little bit longer. 

“Looks like they hit it off,” Katara commented with a smirk.

“Yeah, Aang’s always been really good at talking to people,” Zuko commented. “I don’t know how he does it.”

Katara nudged her knee with his. “You’re not that bad at it either, you know,” she told him.

Zuko smiled, a slight tinge of pink coloring his cheek bones, and Katara found herself smiling back in return. He jutted his thumb to the kitchen. “I was just about to make lunch. The two of you could say and join us if you’d like.”

Katara figured that there was no harm in staying anymore. It didn’t seem like Zuko was trying to do anything except make it up to Katara. Besides, she sort of didn’t mind trying to talk to Zuko a little bit more over some food. Maybe staying for a couple of hours wouldn’t be too horrible. She cut her losses and shrugged. “Sure, why not? I haven’t eaten anything in ages.”

Zuko brightened up. “Great!” He stood up and was about to climb over the coffee table over the to kitchen before turned back towards Katara suddenly. “Actually, wait. I forgot something. Turn around.”

She darted her eyes back over to the kitchen and stared at Zuko strangely. “Uh, why?”

Zuko held his hand out. “Just trust me. Hand me your necklace for a second?”

 Not bothering to ask anymore questions, Katara turned around and handed Zuko her necklace over her shoulder. Katara waited patiently until she felt Zuko bring his arms over her head and hold her necklace in front of her neck. He tapped his thumb gently against her collarbone and said, “Pick up your hair for a second.” 

Katara complied, piling it all on top of her hair with one hand, and waited while Zuko placed her necklace back around her neck and fastened it for her. For some reason, Katara couldn’t help but smile. She wondered if Zuko was one of those hopeless romantics that purposely looked for every opportunity to do something sweet or romantic. Honestly, she had planned to put it on herself anyway, but she found herself having the strangest desire to laugh and giggle over the way he was treating her since she walked through the door. To think that she was actually nervous about coming over here.

She dropped her hair and turned back around, making sure that the pendant was in the center of her throat. “So? How does it look?”

Zuko smiled fondly. “Absolutely beautiful.” He looked up at her after he finished saying that, and Katara knew for a fact that her cheeks were heating up like mad. This was just a hunch of hers, but she had a feeling that she should probably keep an eye on him when she finally went back to class tomorrow. Maybe see if she could finagle a phone number of out him or a promise for some coffee. There were just some things that were too good to merely be a coincidence, and this just seemed like one of them.

She grinned and walked around the couch. “So...you mentioned lunch?”

 

 


	2. Vigil

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katara is dead set on pulling an all nighter to study for her orgo quiz in the morning, but Zuko has other ideas.

Zuko _knew_ he shouldn’t have told Katara about that twenty-four hour library. His instincts were screaming no, but he decided to be the bigger person and give Katara — a girl who wasn’t exactly known for being calm or rational — the benefit of the doubt.

Of course, that went and backfired splendidly the minute Zuko wandered into the stacks and saw Katara sprawled out over a study table fast asleep, a highlighter still clutched valiantly in her hand. But, was Zuko _really_ surprised? There was a part of him that knew this would happen sooner or later despite all of his warnings about not getting sleep and burning herself out and a whole other slew of well meant words that Katara probably ignored.

Zuko checked his phone and rolled his eyes. Yup. Three in the morning. Figures.

Noticing that the entire floor of the stacks was completely deserted sans himself and a comatose Katara, Zuko flung his bag over his shoulder and let it slam loudly on top of one of the study tables with a deafening slam that echoed throughout the empty room. Almost immediately, Katara’s head shot up as she screamed in surprise and darted her head frantically around the room, looking for the source of the noise. She rubbed at one of her eyes — smudging her eyeliner in the process — and finally made eye contact with Zuko who was staring at her with a strange mixture of admonishment and amusement.

Katara blinked and managed to look slightly abashed. “...I was just taking a nap.”

“Sure you were,” Zuko deadpanned. “Katara, it’s past three, you’re obviously tired. Go to bed!” Of their friend group, Zuko was the one that rose early and went to bed late, slaving over problem sets and actually doing all of the assigned reading, much to his friends’ amazement and horror. 3AM was _his_ regular bedtime. But lately, Katara was starting to follow his lead, as was currently evidenced, and he wasn’t totally sure that that was the best idea.

“But you don’t under _stand_ ,” Katara groaned. She dejectedly picked up a corner of her textbook and let it fall uselessly back on the table. “I have an organic chemistry quiz tomorrow and I have to do well on it. Otherwise, who knows what’s going to happen?”

Zuko walked over and searched Katara’s wrists for one of the hairbands she always had on hand. He plucked it off her wrist and began to collect the thick curls that were sticking up at odd angles. “Katara, it’s _just_ a quiz,” Zuko reasoned. “It can’t be worth that much of your grade.”

“It doesn’t matter,” she pouted. “I need to make sure I’m doing these problems correctly, and whenever I go through the practice sets, there’s always a couple of problems that I can’t get right. And I’m not stopping until I get them right.”

Most days, the fierce determination and desire for hard work was one of Katara’s most awe inspiring and endearing qualities, and Zuko really did appreciate them. But, it was times like this where Katara took it to the extreme and pushed herself _too_ hard, especially when she did everything in her power to understand something that was confusing her.

Zuko piled Katara’s hair on the top of her head and collected it into a bun that he fastened with a hair tie. Being Katara’s boyfriend taught him that Katara was considerably more agreeable when her hair was out of her face. “You do realize there’s such a thing as over studying, don’t you?”

“Tell that to the people that are going to totally ruin the curve for everyone tomorrow,” Katara grumbled. “Did you know that someone actually got an A+ on the last quiz? An A. _Plus_!”

“So you’re just going to stay up all night and cram for this quiz that I’m almost positive is only ten percent of your grade?” Zuko asked incredulously.

Katara pointed her finger in Zuko’s face. “Grades add up,” she replied sagely. “Besides, I want to make sure I know everything now so I’m not killing myself for the final. If anything, I’m being smart about this.”

Zuko frowned. “No, you’re being silly, actually.” Katara opened her mouth to protest but Zuko swiftly cut her off. “I am not leaving you in the stacks by yourself to cry over a chem textbook in preparation for a quiz that you are probably going to pass anyway. You need _sleep_.”

Katara whined and leaned backwards into Zuko’s chest. “But I’m not _dooone_!”

Zuko shook his head and tried to hold back his smile over her antics. Katara never whined unless she was really exhausted, really stressed, or both. He plucked the highlighter out of her hand, placed it in the middle of the two pages she was reading, and shut her textbook. “Will you at least get out of here then?” Zuko pleaded. “I never should have shown you this place.”

“Oh no, it’s totally depressing, I’m with you,” she exclaimed. If she was bothered by Zuko packing up her bag for her, she wasn’t bothering to say anything about it. “But this is the only place where the librarians won’t kick me out.”

He held out her bag for her, holding it temptingly with just two fingers. She stared up at him dubiously and stared back at the desk she was just sleeping on, deciding what the better option was. Zuko sighed. “Look, how about this? Since you insist on burning the midnight oil, I’ll make you some coffee, pull out some snacks, and stay up with you. But can we please get out of here? I’m not letting you fall asleep here. It’s creepy…”

Creepy was an understatement. No one came into these stacks much and he was sure most of these books were a hundred years old. Literally. Plus the lights in here were motion sensored and turned off whenever people stopped moving. When you were studying so hard that you were sitting stock still and the lights here happened to shut off on you, it was downright unsettling. At least if Katara was in her room, she could just pass out in her bed.

It seemed that Zuko wasn’t the only one pondering that scenario, and Katara finally plucked up her jacket from behind her and took her bag. “Fine,” she grumbled. “But I’m actually going to study! No letting you distract me.”

Zuko smirked. “I would never.”

“Yes you would. That’s what happened when I had my bio final last semester.”

The memory made Zuko laugh as the two of them headed up the stairs and back to the main floor of the library. “Okay, _I_ didn’t distract you. You took my presence as a distraction to get away from doing the homework you had no intentions of finishing.”

Katara crossed her arms. “Yeah. Because strutting around my room shirtless is just fun and harmless.”

A blush flushed across Zuko’s cheeks. “I wasn’t _strutting_!” he argued. “It was...Spring! There was —  it was hot! Your room had no air conditioning.”

“Mmhm,” Katara leered. “Sure.” She stretched her arms over her head and yawned as they made their way outside into the cold weather. “I usually don’t mind a shirtless Zuko, but the only thing I want to be ogling right now is a nice cup of coffee.”

“I got it, I got it,” Zuko assented. “Freshly brewed caffeine. Enough to keep you wired the rest of the night. Coming right up.”

He walked them back to his dorm — it was closer and Zuko was the one with this rare brand of coffee that his Uncle had given him from home that was apparently the reason for Zuko’s unnatural ability to stay awake for days on end doing work. Katara had often glared at the bag whenever she was in his room — _“That can’t be healthy for you, I mean who knows what’s in that?”_ — but this time around, the moment she stepped into his dorm, she immediately grabbed the bag off of his desk and started to read off the ingredients that were on the back. She immediately wrinkled her nose and fell back into Zuko’s desk chair. “Ugh, I feel like I’m gonna give myself heart palpitations.”

Zuko was already getting his Keurig ready to make the coffee while he dug around his drawers for a t-shirt for Katara to wear. “It’s not going to kill you. But I figured go hard or go home.”

Katara still looked dubious. “I feel like that shouldn’t apply to caffeine.”

Zuko dropped his t-shirt on top of her head and grabbed the bag back from her. “Are you going to reconsider your all nighter and come to bed?”

“Ha ha,” Katara scowled. “Nice try. I am studying for this quiz, and if I have to drink your...radioactive coffee blend to do it, then fine.”

“Stop exaggerating, it’s not radioactive.”

“I thought your Uncle was a tea drinker,” Katara complained. “Sweet, funny Uncle Iroh bought you that?”

Zuko shrugged. “He was...concerned. Figured I’d appreciate something with a little more...substance,” he finished lamely.

Katara sighed and finally started removing her scarf and jacket. “I hope you’re right about this.”

By the time Katara was sitting comfortably in Zuko’s t-shirt on Zuko’s bed, the dastardly blend was already brewed, piping hot, and ready to go. The only problem was that Zuko’s room didn’t have much in the way of cream and sugar since Zuko typically always took his coffee black. So the dark liquid was sitting menacingly in her mug and Katara looked like she was about to throw up, run away, or do a strange mixture of both.

She gulped audibly and looked at Zuko desperately. “Do I have to?”

Zuko merely shrugged and relaxed into his chair. “You don’t have to do anything, Katara,” he reasoned. “If you don’t feel like staying up, just go to sleep. You can stay over and share my bed.”

Katara lowered the mug and glared across the room. “You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you?”

“On _purpose_?” Zuko exclaimed. “I would never do that. I’m just trying to support you in whatever you feel like you need to do.”

Something between a scream, a whine, and a groan left Katara’s throat and she went back to staring suspiciously at her drink. “You know I won’t drink this.”

“Then go to bed.”

“See? You are doing this on purpose!”

Zuko got up, walked over to Katara, and took the mug back. He brought it to his mouth, took a large sip, and handed it back to Katara. He smacked his lips a little bit like he was contemplating the taste, and grinned. “Tastes fine to me.”

That admission didn’t seem to be doing much to comfort Katara and she pushed the mug back into his hands. “...I think I’ll be fine without it, but...thanks,” she finally admitted.

“You and I both know that you’re not gonna stay awake if you’re gonna study without coffee. You were falling asleep while you were getting dressed, I saw you,” Zuko smirked.

“But...I still have to look over all of my notes one more time!” Katara protested.

Zuko frowned. Well, it certainly looked like words weren’t going to get through to Katara. Not that this was at all surprising. Katara could be dead wrong about something and still argue with you for an hour and give you twenty different reasons as to why she was actually right. But Zuko was serious about sending Katara to bed early. He knew his girlfriend well and he knew that she wouldn’t be able to function the next day after an all nighter. That was more his forte. But he supposed there were other ways of convincing her…

He placed the coffee on his desk and reached over the bed so that his arms were braced on either side of Katara’s knees. He leaned in, cradled her cheek, and kissed her — deeply, unashamedly, and certainly with no intentions of starting slowly. There wasn’t any time for that at the moment. Katara made a noise in the back of her throat like she was about to protest, but that only lasted for a second because she immediately shut her eyes and kissed him back just as enthusiastically.

Zuko slowly crawled onto the bed and tugged on the fabric by Katara’s hips, silently pulling her into his lap and curling his arms around her waist. For all of the protesting and insisting that she needed to study, Katara didn’t seem to be acting like she wanted to do anything else but lace her fingers on the back of his neck and keep kissing him. A soft groan echoed from her throat and into his, and for a moment Zuko realized that he certainly wouldn’t have minded staying up with Katara if this is what they were going to be doing.

Remembering that there was a point to all of this, Zuko pulled away and smiled against her lips. “Come to bed.”

Katara’s eyes were still closed, but she was licking her lips and shaking her head. “I...I have to re-read the last chapter — “ She was cut off when Zuko leaned in for another kiss, her words of protest being swallowed by their kiss.

Zuko pulled away again and Katara bit her lip. “...Y-You already made me the coffee…”

Another kiss, and this time Katara readily leaned into it like she was expecting the interruption. “...ten percent of my grade…”

Zuko reached up and thread his fingers into Katara’s hair, pulling out the bun he had made her earlier and let her hair tumble over his hands and arms. He angled her head a little to the left and carefully let his tongue creep against hers before pulling away again. Katara blinked at him, let her eyes dart back to her bookbag, and sighed in defeat. “I...am out of excuses.”

  
“Good,” Zuko grinned, before pulling Katara back towards him and finally pulling the two of them to lay back down on the bed. They could afford a little fun for ten more minutes before they turned, Zuko figured. _That_ of all things couldn’t hurt.


	3. Clandestine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Boring formal parties are boring, and Katara and Zuko can think of a far better use of their time without anyone finding out about it.

Zuko’s family — being the terribly rich and show-offish family that they were — was always in the habit of throwing lavish holiday parties every time Christmas came around, and took the opportunity to invite every family in their address book that was just as elite as they were. The only other person who truly understood the pain of this sort of affair was Toph, whose parents also threw their share of galas after the New Year in a similar display of opulence. 

It was the sort of black tie-evening gown affair that both Zuko and Toph hated being a part of, and they always gave their friends the glittering, expensive invitations with eye rolls and a few muttered curses. It was funny: two of the richest heirs in the entire town, and they both hated every second of it. 

The only reason these evenings were at all bearable was because Toph stuck close to Aang and Zuko stuck close to Katara. It was the beauty of bringing his girlfriend to galas: if anyone ever asked Zuko to dance, all he had to do was latch onto Katara, drag her out to the ballroom, and never ever let her go. Easy enough, right?

After around their fourth dance — in which Zuko was seriously considering telling that strange girl who kept asking him to dance to just leave the party altogether — Katara hobbled uncomfortably over to one of the dining tables and plopped ungracefully into one of the chairs. She leaned down and discreetly slipped her heels off, wincing as she pushed them under the table. “Zuko, I really do love you, but I can’t dance in these shoes anymore. If you had told me we were going to be dancing the whole evening, I would have worn something else.” She sighed in relief as she rested her sore feet against the cold marble dance floor. “Ugh, I hate formal wear…”

Zuko frowned as he loosened his tie, unbuttoned the first button of his collar, and sat down in the chair next to her. “I’m sorry,” he muttered in embarrassment. “I just really don’t want to dance with the daughters of the guys my dad is trying to impress. They’re terrifying…”

“So you’re using me as a cover every single time?” Katara sighed tiredly. “You can afford one dance, can’t you? I won’t mind. Heck, I need to massage my feet.”

He frantically shushed her in response. “No, no, no. You have to act like you mind. Otherwise, they won’t feel threatened. Then one dance will turn into five and then I’m gonna lose my mind.”

“You know, they’re just girls,” Katara smirked. “I’m one, too. We’re not poisonous, I swear.”

Zuko frowned. “You are lovely company. They aren’t. They’re like...I don’t know...leeches.”

“They think you’re handsome,” Katara leered. “Not that I blame them. You’d have to be blind not to see that.”

To this day, Zuko never really understood that concept. He’d come a long way in terms of accepting his looks, and he knew that Katara loved him for far more than the scar across half of his face. But he sorted of expected the rest of the population of vapid females to be deterred by it. If anything, it had the opposite effect. From the whispers he’d heard at dinner parties, it made him look “haunted, mysterious, and alluring.” Apparently, that made him a prime candidate for a dancing partner during sufferable formal affairs like this one. 

Katara insisted he should feel flattered. Zuko just felt like screaming. 

“If you’re tired, we can just sit for a while,” Zuko assured. “I’m sure they won’t try and interrupt us if we’re talking.”

“You really underestimate infatuated females,” Katara pointed out. “But then again, you were always kind of rubbish at romance.”

Zuko crossed his arms over his chest. “Excuse you, but I seem to recall you saying that my Valentine’s Day present was, and I quote, ‘the most romantic thing anyone’s ever done for you.’”

Katara winced. “Ehhh, to be fair I haven’t had much experience in dating.” Zuko’s jaw fell open and Katara quickly laughed and cheered him up with a quick kiss. “Kidding, kidding!,” she assured. “But seriously, I think you’re just putting off the inevitable.” 

“Or saving myself from certain maiming.”

Katara rolled her eyes and looked back towards the dance floor. “Oh come on, you’re totally exaggerating.” She pointed to a tall brunette in a silver gown standing over by the grand staircase. “What about that girl? She was trying to talk to you before you snatched me up to dance right after I came out of the bathroom.”

Zuko’s face immediately took on a look of disgust. “You do realize that’s the girl that stalked me in my junior year, right? I told you about her.”

“Oh my gosh, that’s her?”

Zuko nodded miserably. “She left her phone number in my locker every. Single. Day.”

“Oooh, okay,” Katara muttered, biting on her lip. “That’s no good. Oh, what about her?” Katara pointed out a shapely blonde with a crimson holiday dress that was currently plucking a flute of champagne off of one of the silver trays being carried around by the serving staff. “She doesn’t look crazy.”

“Are you seriously pimping me out to other girls?”

“I’m not!” Katara defended. “I’m just...helping you make friends, and giving my feet a break.”

Zuko pushed his chair in closer to the table and closer to Katara. “Then lets go somewhere else. Somewhere that doesn’t involve dancing or...socializing,” Zuko glared. 

Katara stared at him in amusement. “Gosh, you make socializing sound worse than getting boiled in oil. Lighten up!” she grinned, smacking his arm lightly.

“I can easily think of five things off the top of my head that would be more pleasant than this party,” Zuko mumbled. 

Katara stuck her bottom lip out and looked around at the rest of the party. “...it’s not that bad…”

“You don’t have to pretend to like it for my sake,” Zuko deadpanned. 

Katara shrugged and reached down to rub at her feet. “Okay, so the vibe here is a little...stuck up.”

Zuko snorted. “A little?”

Katara leaned her elbow on the table and cradled her chin in her hand. Zuko watched her stare out at the younger guests dancing in the middle of the ballroom as well as some of Zuko’s father’s friends milling about on the fringes of the party, talking, laughing, and schmoozing as was typical. It didn’t look like she was particularly enjoying herself and judging by the way she was avoiding putting her heels back on, Katara didn’t seem like she was too eager to go back into the crowd. Still, she scanned the room — all the way from the top of the grand staircase and back down to the large double doors that lead to the ground floor — and suddenly allowed her face to light up like she had suddenly gotten an idea. 

She waved him closer. Zuko raised a brow, but complied and leaned his head towards her until her lips were hovering just over the shell of his ear. Katara fervently whispered something quickly into his ear, and Zuko’s eyes widened in shock as Katara spoke. When she finally pulled away, Katara was grinning from ear to ear and Zuko’s jaw was hanging in bewilderment. 

“You want us to do what?”

“Oh come on,” Katara smirked. She discreetly looked around her to make sure no one was listening and whispered, “I’m pretty sure this will be a hell of a lot more entertaining than just sitting here and not doing anything.”

Zuko had to admit that this was probably true, but he still swallowed and nervously rubbed at the back of his neck. “Yeah, but...are you sure?”

Katara snatched her heels back from under the table and slipped them back on. She stood, smoothed out her evening gown, and pulled Zuko away from the tables and towards the large double doors leading out of the ballroom. “Come on, you worrywart. Let’s go.”

Sneaking out of the ballroom hadn’t been particularly difficult. It didn’t seem like anyone had noticed them amidst the throngs of people, and Zuko made sure that they were discreet in opening and closing the heavy gilded doors so as not to attract any attention to themselves. Once they were safe in the barren hallway just outside the ballroom, Katara kneeled down, took her heels off once more, and held them in her hands. She grabbed Zuko’s hand and immediately pulled him down the corridor to their right. 

Now that she was free of her shoes, Katara was practically jogging down the hall — shoes in hand and dress hiked up — while Zuko bounded after her. The sight was so comical that he couldn’t help but laugh to himself while they continued their way through the hall. “Where exactly are you taking us?”

Katara was keeping her eyes on the doors lining the hall as she shrugged and laughed back. “A good hiding place.” She turned another corner and immediately tried the doorknob to a small looking door that was tucked in between another empty ballroom and a deserted coat checking area. Sure enough, the door flung open and Katara silently cheered in victory. “Haha, yes!” She reached back and grabbed Zuko’s hand again. “Come on, come on, quick.”

It turns out that the small room was actually an empty closet — probably a room that used to store cleaning supplies, table cloths, and other miscellaneous things, but now looked like it had recently been cleared out. Despite the free space, the fit was rather snug. Katara jumped up to sit on top of a small cabinet of drawers on the left wall, and Zuko had just enough space to stand right in front of her with the opposite wall pressing into his back. 

She shut the door behind them, and Zuko was only barely able to see Katara’s face under the dim lighting in the closet. For some reason, the entire scenario seemed so outright ridiculous that Zuko couldn’t help from laughing incredulously and looking up at Katara through his bangs. “You’re absolutely insane,” he told her. “What if someone finds us in here? Then what are we going to say?”

“We’re in a closet,” Katara stated. “Who looks for people in closets?”

“I can’t believe we’re doing this…”

Katara smirked and let her shoes drop on the ground beside her. “Actually, it doesn’t seem like you’re doing anything at all right now.”

Zuko narrowed his eyes teasingly and Katara returned his stare with a wink. Deciding that if it was a war Katara wanted, it was a war Katara would get, he leaned forward and gently hiked Katara’s gown up by her thighs so that he could settle his body comfortably in between her knees. He slid his hands along the fabric stretched across Katara’s hips, grabbed her waist, and pulled her closer to the edge of the table, feeling Katara’s knees press insistently into his hips. 

He reached up and smoothed Katara’s hair back so that he could see her face as clearly as he could. “You do realize you’re playing a very dangerous game right now, don’t you?”

Katara shrugged and crossed her ankles against the small of Zuko’s back. “I’ll take my chances.”

Well, they were already here. There wasn’t any going back now. Didn’t make sense. Zuko leaned down and pressed a warm kiss to Katara’s shoulder, smiling against her skin when he heard sigh out quietly in response. His fingertips pressed into Katara’s hips and he slowly kissed his way along her collarbone until he was lavishing most of his attention where her collarbone and shoulder met. He knew from experience that it was a part of her body that always had her gasping and sighing. 

His teeth grazed along her skin and Katara immediately let out a moan that she quickly smothered behind her hand. Zuko chuckled and looked up towards her. “You’re gonna have to be a little quieter.”

Katara bit her lips when Zuko started sucking gently on a patch of skin and she glared weakly at him. “Shut up…”

Zuko shrugged and brought his face right in front of hers. “If you insist.” 

He didn’t hold back when he kissed her — despite her assurances, there was no guarantee that their hiding spot would remain a secret forever, so he decided not to waste any time with gentle kisses or light touches. The small closet was immediately filled with the sounds of their lips smacking together, the fabric of their formal wear shifting, and brief snatches of Katara’s deep moans that were promptly swallowed by Zuko’s eagerness. Zuko couldn’t believe that he hadn’t thought of doing this sooner. After all of that horrid mingling, even more horrid music, and terribly dull ambiance, being in this ridiculously small closet with Katara like this was infinitely more appealing. 

Suddenly spurred on by their illicit activities, Zuko gently bit down on Katara’s bottom lip and laughed when she immediately moaned loudly into the empty room. She snickered at the sound and Katara brought her arms tightly around Zuko’s neck, digging her heels into his back and pulling him closer. 

They separated from their kiss loudly, and Zuko spoke softly against her lips. “I said quiet. You’re ruining the secret.”

Katara kissed him slowly and responded, “Stop giving me a reason to be loud.”

“But you being loud means I’m doing a good job.”

She glared half heartedly at him and gently played with the short strands of hair on the back of Zuko’s neck. “Well, then I guess we’re in quite the predicament then.”

“Indeed.”

Zuko reached down and slid his hands across Katara’s bare thighs, revelling in how soft they felt and desperately wishing they had found a nice chaise or a fancy bed so that they could really enjoy themselves. But he supposed that could come later. He reached around Katara’s waist and pushed their hips closer together, smirking when Katara gasped loudly and glared at him in response. He put a finger against her lips and chuckled. “Quiet I said.”

But Katara merely rolled her eyes and pulled his lips back to hers. “No promises.”


	4. Rue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katara was probably the best thing that had ever happened to Zuko. But he was a screw up, and he naturally found a way to thoroughly ruin a very good thing.

Zuko knew he was screwed up. His father thought so, his sister thought so, and he later learned to agree with them.

It wasn't just the scar on his face, although that certainly had a lot to do with it — "You look like a fucking mutant, you know that?" Azula always told him. She always reminded him about it as if she was afraid he'd forget it. But it was hard to get over something that was literally written across half his face. He saw the people in the street wince and look away. He was very well aware that he looked disgusting.

But his father was in jail and thought he was an embarrassment. His sister was in a psych ward and thought he was a failure. The only people who ever really cared about him — his mother, Lu Ten — were dead and long gone. His Uncle tried to help, but it was way too late for the old man's assurances. Zuko was beyond help, and it seemed at times there was nothing about him that anyone found redeeming.

High school had certainly been an eye opening experience. It was like he was a plague — people were afraid to touch him, sit next to him, look at him, or even have a locker next to him. Burn Victim. That's what they called him. If only they knew…

It took him until junior year before he met Aang — a transfer student, someone who saw the good in everyone and didn't have a pessimistic bone in his body. They had nearly nothing in common and at times Zuko wondered why on Earth he took this person's friendship, but Aang carried him through college and gave him some semblance of normalcy. Like he was just a regular guy with friends that he could do things with.

But friends were just a small part of life. Any normal straight guy like himself wondered about the possibility of a girl — someone who liked him and loved him at the same time. Someone he could kiss and touch one moment and comfortably talk to the next. Someone special. Someone that mattered more than everyone else.

Of course, girls were more likely to spit at his feet or cringe at his face than to even bother talking to him. It wasn't like he had much to offer anyone anyway.

Toph — Aang's girlfriend and the only female with the stomach to spend extended periods of time with him — often said he was just being self-deprecating for the sake of being annoying.

"You thinking that you're incapable of affection and unworthy of love sounds like a load of shit to me," she told him once. "Anyone that looks at you and thinks you're less than human is a shallow jerk and they're not worth your time anyway."

She was always abrasive, but Aang more or less agreed with her. "There's someone out there for you," Aang promised him. "But it's not the sort of thing that just falls in your lap. Give it time. Someone will come, and they'll see all the good in you that I see."

For the entirety of high school and most of college, it seemed like that was never going to come true.

But then he met Katara.

She was roommates with Toph and was in the same philosophy class as Aang. He'd met her when Aang and Toph had dragged him out of his room and begged him to please socialize and get out that dark room just once. The minute Zuko laid his eyes on her, he knew he was a goner.

Initially, it was fine. They'd only hung out through Aang and Toph a couple of times and he didn't know her well. It was easy to acknowledge the fact that she was gorgeous and never let it get past that point. There was no chance in hell for anything more than his silent musings, and he quickly shoved her into the same small category he shoved Toph — strictly platonic friends. She was too pretty, too nice, too sweet. Another guy would snatch her up in a second and he'd be left where he always was.

But coffee dates, movies, and group study sessions only managed to last for a couple of weeks before Katara had quietly asked him in the library one evening if he was any good at economics.

After replying that he was somewhat decent, she smiled, laced her hands together, and tucked them under her chin. "Do you think you could help me pass this intro class? I'm really horrible with all these graphs and formulas, and I need to do well in this elective."

It would have been so easy for Zuko to say no. There were a breadth of excuses — he was too busy, he wasn't comfortable tutoring — but he quickly learned that he couldn't come up with a way to say no to her.

Separating his attraction for her and his friendship with her grew increasingly more difficult the more time he spent with her. It wasn't just her looks anymore. She was intelligent, engaging, and funny — able to get a laugh out of him easily, something that took Aang weeks. She cared passionately about things — her dreams of her medical career were particularly inspiring — and her relationship with her family — her brother, her father, her grandmother — was positively endearing. It was the kind of endearing family Zuko wished he had, and he could listen to Katara talk about her family for hours.

Katara walked with him to class, Katara texted him every day, Katara baked for him as a thank you for all of the tutoring, and Katara was honestly so happy and thrilled to have him as a friend. And wasn't that a strange feeling.

It was why he didn't push her off when she finally kissed him. Zuko was walking Katara back to her dorm after a late night spent in the library and she had pulled him into one without any warning. Zuko should have pushed her away — told her he didn't feel the same, told her it was too soon, hell maybe told her the truth and just admitted that he was a wreck and she deserved someone better — but kissing her felt so damn nice. Zuko couldn't remember the last time he'd ever felt so complete and...cared for.

Dating her was seamless. It never felt any different from all the private time they'd spent together before. The only difference were long talks at night, hot kisses in his bed, fervent touches in her room, whispered endearments, linked hands, and so much warmth and happiness. Katara always pulled him into all the new bistros and coffee shops she discovered for impromptu dates, and Zuko always surprised her with presents when she got good grades on her econ tests or landed a job. She napped in his lap when he was up late studying, and he could never fall asleep unless he had his arms wrapped tightly around her, pressing kisses against her temples and across her cheeks.

Things were glorious for a month, and the sources of his problems were never discussed.

Zuko wondered if Aang and Toph had told Katara something, because as much as she went on about her own family, she said not one word about his. She had met his Uncle and spoke about how charming he was, but the normal questions — where are your parents? Do you have any siblings? — were never touched. His friend circle was horribly limited, but Katara never asked about it. There were days when he couldn't see her — when he desperately needed to be alone — and she understood without a protest.

And his scar...it was like it wasn't there.

That was what bothered him the most. She looked him straight in the eyes and seemed to like what she saw every single time. But certainly that couldn't be true. It was so hard to ignore. Even Aang's eyes lingered occasionally on his scar, and Toph often found herself staring and quickly looking away. It couldn't have been possible that Katara hadn't noticed — that she had no questions, that she had no complaints, that she had no comments. Surely she had an opinion. Surely it was something she had to force herself to overlook. It wasn't just something she saw and accepted like you would accept brown hair or blue eyes.

It was the moniker of his fucked up past and his fucked up view of the world.

So one day, he made the horrible mistake of asking her.

It was while they were in his room. She was doing her chemistry homework while sitting at his desk and wearing one of his t-shirts. Katara turned to him and stared at him as if he had asked her some terribly confusing riddle. "What did you say?"

Zuko shrugged. "What do you think of it?" he asked. "It's a simple question."

Katara frowned and looked back down at her notebook. "I don't see why my opinion matters…"

"Of course it matters," he explained. "Why would you think it wouldn't? Other people can't stop staring at the thing."

Katara pursed her lips. "Well that's other people. I'd rather focus on other things."

"So you'd rather ignore it because it's disgusting to talk about."

That was the wrong thing to say, although he hadn't realized it at the time. She pulled her chair out and turned herself to face him. "I never said that," Katara said sternly.

"Why do you never ask about my family?" Zuko asked her suddenly, changing the topic abruptly. "Why do you never ask about my mother? My father? If I have siblings? I mean, obviously Uncle couldn't be my only family. I must have had more once. Why do you never ask?"

Her mouth opened and closed before she bit her lip. "I figured if you wanted to talk about it, you would," Katara explained. "I always bring up my family, always talk about them, and you never bring up yours in return. I figured it wasn't safe territory. I was being considerate!"

Zuko scoffed. "You were ignoring it," he insisted. "Because it's ugly to talk about. I get it, I do. Trust me. No one knows that more than me."

She stood up from her chair and immediately walked towards him. "Woah, ok, where is this coming from?" she demanded. "I have never said or thought that your life or anything about you was ugly or detestable. Why would you ever think that?"

"Because that's what everyone thinks!" Zuko said, raising his voice. "My family is fucked, my face is fucked, and anyone who purposely decides to ignore that or 'not see it' is just a liar."

Azula's words were ringing again — "It's not like anyone is ever going to ignore that eyesore you know," "You're hopeless, I can't believe we're related," "You're such an embarrassment, I swear I'll throw a party when I'm finally an only child" — and suddenly everything just didn't make sense.

Katara was starting to look angry and uncomfortable. "You think I'm lying to you?" she asked, affronted. "Because I'm not playing into this sick fantasy you have about how horrible you are?"

"It's not a fantasy," Zuko said carefully. "Open your eyes. It's my reality and it's like you're too bothered by it to even say anything about it."

What he was saying wasn't getting through to her, he could tell, and she looked like she was slowly running out of things to tell him. Katara stared down at her feet and muttered, "So you want me to tell you what I think about your scar?"

She walked in front of where he was sitting on the edge of his bed and placed her hands on both of his knees. She brought her face closer to his, looked at him imploringly, and spoke slowly, "I think it's proof that you've been hurt — horribly, horribly hurt — and I think it's proof that you've had a lot thrown at you that you didn't deserve." She swallowed and brought her fingers up to his chin. "It's a part of you. And I like every part of you."

Zuko wondered if just her words and only her words would have placated him at that moment. Of course, he'd never know, because Katara's words were coupled with a gentle caress against that dead, disgusting, scarred skin of his. No one had ever done that. No one ever dared to touch him there, and it inspired such fear, anger, and anxiety that before he knew it, Zuko's hands were latched around her wrists and he was shoving her roughly off of him.

He didn't remember much, but he remembered screaming. Screaming at her. He told her to never touch it — she was never allowed to touch it, no one was. It was a scar. A horrible scar and it wasn't something to love it was something to be deterred by. It wasn't an encouragement, and anyone who thought that was not someone he wanted to be around.

Katara was screaming back at him, but to this day, he couldn't remember even a piece of what she said. Probably defending herself, probably telling him how ridiculous he was being — because he was — and telling him that nothing about how she treated him was a lie.

It wasn't until after they had broken up that he had realized what a horrible mistake that had been.

Katara avoided him, and oh how much that stung after all the days and hours they spent curled around each other and whispering loving words to each other under warm sheets. Her things were immediately moved out of his room and vice versa. Katara didn't need tutoring, Katara went out by herself, Katara could buy her own presents. There was no need for him anymore, and it was like they had previously shared nothing. Aang assured him that it was just a fight — he and Toph had them all the time. But Toph shared Zuko's pessimistic realism and she wisely decided not to give Zuko any false hope. There probably wasn't any truth to it.

Zuko accused Katara of ignoring the ugly parts of him, but this time, she made it a point to make sure she saw them.

It was the way she looked at his scar one day when they were passing by each other on campus. Katara's eyes immediately latched onto his scar, but the stare felt cold, accusatory, and wrong. Immediately, Zuko knew that this was different from how anyone had ever looked at him.

She was disgusted. But he could tell it wasn't by his scar. It was by him. Every snide remark and ugly stare that anyone in his life had ever given him didn't compare to this.

Because Zuko knew that she wasn't judging him off of things he couldn't control. She was looking at him — his harsh words, his accusations — and hating what she saw.

Regret wasn't usually a word in Zuko's vocabulary. But damn it if he could take even a quarter of what he did and do it over, he'd do it in a heartbeat. He wouldn't even have to think about it.

But Katara wanted nothing to do with him. He was alone again, and it felt worse than before.

Zuko wasn't sure if this would wind up being the worst mistake of his life, but at the moment, it certainly felt like it.


	5. Voyage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katara isn’t used to taking subways, but luckily she has a strange run in with a handsome commuter who is more than happy to point her in the right direction.

Katara checked the bars on her cellphone before she brought it back to her ear. “Okay, I’m on the train and about to lose service. What stop am I getting off at?”

“Republic. Avenue,” Sokka said slowly over the phone. “You’re only going to be taking it for like six stops. Easy as pie.”

“Okay, but I wouldn’t have to be going through this if you would have just driven me,” Katara muttered hurriedly into the phone as she pushed into the train along with ten other people. 

“Yeah, right. I’ll just drive through city traffic and into the suburbs to go take my sister back to my place all over again,” he quipped sarcastically. “Just get your butt over here.”

The doors to the train were already closing and Katara rolled her eyes in response as she quickly moved through the car to look for an empty seat. “Fine, fine, whatever. I’ll be there as soon as I can. I gotta go.”

“Don’t fall asleep!” Sokka shouted into the phone just as Katara got a seat right next to the door opposite the one she just walked through. She even managed to leave one seat between her and the next person. Score! “I don’t need you taking the train to the next county over by accident.”

Katara quickly reassured her brother and managed to hang up with him before the doors closed and the train pulled out of the station. She sighed and plugged in her headphones, ready to at least listen to some music while the train clattered through the underground tunnels and through the city. The sunlight immediately flickered away in favor of the dim fluorescent lights of the train as if descended, and Katara relaxed into her seat. 

She always complained to Sokka about how far away he lived — sure the city was glamorous and it was easier for him and Suki to find a place there, but every time she wanted to come and visit him from the suburbs, it was also a hassle. Mainly because she had to take the subway to get there and that was never fun. The lines were always confusing, there were always delays and service changes, and it was seriously never clean. She wondered if the chair she was currently sitting in was at all sanitary. 

Oh well. She supposed it hardly mattered at this point. 

Now that she was sitting still, Katara was starting to feel the exhaustion from the past week in her limbs. Her residency was making her pull ridiculous hours, and she figured it had to have been around four in the morning before she was allowed to leave the hospital and five in the morning when she finally crawled into bed and got a few hours of sleep. It was a rough night — not uncommon, but still — and she sort of wished she could stay in today and catch up on sleep. But Katara promised Sokka that she’d come and see his new apartment. It had been a while since she’d seen him…

The problem was that the prospect of sleep was starting to look more and more tempting the longer she was sitting there. By the time the train arrived at the next stop, Katara figured she’d cut her losses and take a quick nap — just enough to rest her eyes and rejuvenate herself. Showing up to Sokka’s house exhausted wasn’t going to be a good look on her. Katara pocketed her phone, crossed her arms, and leaned her head back on the wall behind her. She’d only closer her eyes for a couple of stops. That should be enough…

It wasn’t clear how much time had passed, but Katara was suddenly roused by a sleep deeper than she meant to fall into by a light tap on her shoulder. Katara groaned and absently realized that she was leaned over and her head was resting against something really soft. Did she take off her sweater so she could lean on it?

She snuggled deeper into the soft surface until she vaguely heard someone clearing their throat next to her. Katara blinked her eyes open and realized that the seat next to her that had previously been empty was now occupied by another person...and she was currently resting her head on their shoulder. 

Katara shot up — completely awake now — and turned in her seat, forcing herself awake and bringing herself face to face with the unfortunate stranger she was sleeping on. She was already starting to trip and stumble her way through an apology. “Oh gosh, stupid, stupid! I’m so so so sorry. I didn’t mean to rest on you, it’s just that I — “

She stopped her rambling abruptly when she was finally lucid enough to realize who exactly she was apologizing to. Katara was met with a charming, embarrassed smile from a particularly handsome looking man that was maybe only a little bit older than her. She couldn’t help but blink stupidly at him — observing his short, choppy hair, his gorgeous eyes, and that endearing look on his face like he was more mortified than she was. Katara felt like burying herself in a hole. Not only was she acting like a complete weirdo on the train — like there weren’t enough of those around — but she probably managed to totally creep out a really cute guy on top of everything else. Great start to the day, Katara. No really. Great. 

He ruffled the hair on the back of his head and chuckled nervously. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you, but you were starting to snore a little bit.”

Katara’s face fell and all thoughts of how attractive this stranger was were immediately replaced with horror. “Oh God, no I wasn’t…”

He nodded. “Yeah, sorry. I mean, don’t worry about it. It’s totally fine. I guess you were pretty tired,” he tried to joke. 

Katara rubbed at her eyes and adjusted her hair. “Yeah, um...I’m a resident so I had a bit of a late night.” She sighed and mentally kicked herself. “I’m seriously so sorry. I was being that creepy person on the train that falls asleep everywhere, you probably think I’m such a freak.”

But the man shook his head. “Nah, don’t worry about. You’d be surprised how often that happens. At least it was you and not some homeless person. That’s happened to me before.”

“Still,” Katara frowned, adjusting her bun that had fallen loose during her nap. “I usually don’t do that, and I’m really — “ She stopped suddenly when she looked out the dirty windows of the subway car and saw that the previously crowded train car was now nearly empty. In addition to her and the stranger next to her, there were only a couple of people on the train car. That was odd. She couldn’t have been on the train for that long could she?

Oh no…

“Hey,” Katara piped up suddenly. “What’s the next stop?”

The man looked up at the train map hanging above his head. “Uh...looks like Industry Boulevard. Why?”

Industry Boulevard? That didn’t sound familiar. “Wait, do you know when Republic Avenue is supposed to come up.”

The man blinked at her as his face fell. “Uh...we passed Republic Avenue like half an hour ago.”

Katara’s heart jumped. “Wait, what?!”

He jutted his thumb towards the doors of the train. “Yeah, Republic Avenue is in midtown. We’re all the way uptown. We’re about to go upstate.”

Katara jumped out of her chair and turned around to observe the map that was hanging above them. She quickly counted the stops in between Republic Avenue and Industry Boulevard. She groaned. Ten stops. She’d fallen asleep for ten stops longer than she meant to and totally missed where she was supposed to get off. She wasn’t used to taking the train. She didn’t even know where she was or how to get back. 

“Shit!” Katara hissed, stomping her foot for emphasis. “Crap, how do I get back?” She groaned loudly, not caring that the other pedestrians were staring at her strangely. She wiped both of her hands down her face. “Oh, Sokka’s going to kill me.”

“Hey, hey, don’t worry,” the man interrupted her panicking. He stood up and held onto one of the handle bars above their head. “Look it’s not that big a deal.” Their train was coming into another stop and he pointed to a couple of the colored signs hanging above the platform. “Look, all you have to do is take this train back downtown. Take the stairs up, walk across, and go back downstairs to the other side of the platform. No big deal.”

Katara was biting on her lip as she approached the door and stared critically at the signs. “Hmm...wait, where is this staircase?”

The man laughed a little and beckoned her towards the door. “Don’t worry, I’m getting off at this stop anyway,” he explained. “I can show you exactly where it is.”

Katara sighed in relief as the doors finally opened and she stumbled out onto the new platform. Oh yes. If she was at all unconvinced about her being lost before, she was definitely sure of it now. This platform didn’t look at all familiar to her. Still, she turned to the stranger and smiled gratefully. “Thanks so much. I really appreciate it.” She held out her hand. “I didn’t catch your name?”

The man reached out to grab her hand. “Zuko. Nice to meet you.”

“Katara!” she answered brightly in return. “Thanks for helping me….and letting me sleep on your shoulder I guess.”

Zuko shrugged and gestured towards one of the staircases leading to the upper floor of the station. “Like I said, it’s not a big deal. I’d much prefer a pretty girl napping on my shoulder than anyone else, to be honest.”

The compliment caused Katara to blush and she chuckled nervously as she pulled her bag closer to her and jogged up the stairs behind us. “Yeah, I guess that’s true.”

They walked up the stairs to the busy terminal and Katara suddenly realized that Zuko was right and they were seriously uptown. They were probably right on the threshold between the city and the northern suburbs where a lot of the expensive houses and mansions were located. Her friend Toph used to live up here before she moved into the city for work, so she was familiar with the environment. Katara briefly wondered if this Zuko person lived up here as well if he was getting off at this stop as well.

Zuko pointed to the sign hanging on top of another staircase at the other end of the terminal that led back downstairs, presumably to the other end of the platform. “There’s the downtown train,” he explained. “Just take it all the way back down to Republic Avenue. You should hit it in no time.”

Katara nodded. That seemed easy enough. She was about to thank him for the directions and hurry up to catch the train before Zuko suddenly muttered a curse under his breath as he walked closer to the platform. 

“Oh wait, hold on,” he announced. Zuko made his way up to the banister of the staircase and plucked off a flyer that was posted there. His eyes quickly scanned over the transportation announcement and sucked his teeth in annoyance. He stuck the flyer back on the stairs and sighed. “Okay, there goes that idea…”

Katara frowned. “Why? What’s wrong?”

“Looks like the train you want isn’t running downtown from this station,” Zuko explained. “Construction or something.”

Katara’s hopes deflated and she visibly let her shoulders slump from the effort. “It’s not running?” she repeated tiredly. She swiped the loose bits of hair out of her face in frustration and hopelessly looked around the terminal. “What do I do now?”

Zuko looked like her was debating something in his head before he snapped his fingers and started turning to the left where the other trains in the terminal were located. “Hold on. I have an idea. Come on.”

He began to march through the crowds of people and from what Katara could see, he seemed to be following the colored signs that had arrows pointing to about four other trains that were tucked at the other end of the terminal. Katara squinted her eyes at the signs and tried to see if she recognized any of them or if she had ever taken any of them in the past. All of this public transportation stuff was beyond her. She really needed to learn to get used to all of this. 

“Where are we going now?” she asked as they piled onto an escalator and made their way downstairs again. Katara frowned. It was a constant up and down in this train station, wasn’t it?

Zuko jutted his chin forward. “It’s certainly not the best way to go,” he started to explain. “But since the A line isn’t going to take you downtown from here like I thought it would, you can take the E line uptown to Junction Street, then take the J line down to Main Street, and then take the A line from there. It’s a major station so the train should be running there.”

Katara nibbled on her lip and stared at Zuko dubiously. “Uh...take the what where now?”

Zuko laughed as they stepped onto another platform. “Don’t worry, I’ll write it down for you.”

This new platform they were on was advertising an uptown E line, just like Zuko had mentioned. The platform wasn’t too crowded and Zuko managed to find them two seats where they could sit and wait. Zuko peeked up at the electronic schedule hanging from the ceiling and saw that they had about ten minutes to wait for the next train. 

Zuko looked at her apologetically as they both sat down. “I hope you aren’t late to anything. It’s going to be at least a 45 minute ride.”

Katara shook her head and stared out at the empty tracks. “Not really. I mean, my brother was expecting me, but he sort of warned be about falling asleep on the train. I’m sure he saw this coming.”

“Yeah,” Zuko chuckled. “Try to avoid that. Unless you’re a veteran.”

“What does being a veteran have to do with it?”

“Well,” he smiled. “When you’ve been taking the subway for as long as I’ve been, you learn to wake up right before you need to get off the train. Every single time. Like magic.”

Katara seemed skeptical of that. “You’re lying…”

“No it’s true,” he smiled softly. “I fall asleep too, but I always seem to wake up right before my stop.”

Katara shrugged. “Well, it sounds like you take the subway more than I do. Do you take it to work or something?”

He nodded. “I used to go to college in the city and I work there now as well. I live around here so I’m always commuting.” He paused and stared at her teasingly. “I’m going to go ahead and guess you haven’t developed your train legs quite yet.”

She sighed in response. “Nope. Definitely not. In fact, I didn’t even know there was such a thing as an E line if that’s any indication.”

Zuko seemed to find this incredibly amusing because he laughed loudly, his voice echoing throughout the platform. Katara grinned in response. He had a nice laugh. Very deep, very charming. “You know,” he began. “May I suggest a map in the future?”

“Oh, shut up,” Katara pouted. “I’ve never had to come into the city by the subway until recently. I was always used to my brother driving me everywhere.”

“Ah,” Zuko understood. “But the brother now lives in the city…”

“...and there went my ride,” Katara finished. “Oh well. At least if I’m going to keep visiting him, I’ll eventually learn everything.”

“That’s the spirit,” Zuko decided. “You sound like you’re very bright. I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”

Katara smirked. “Me? Bright? Sorry, but I don’t think your first impression of me was a sterling example of cleverness. Kinda the opposite, actually.”

But Zuko waved away her comment. “Oh stop it, so you fell asleep on the train and missed your stop? Happens to everyone. Besides, I promised I’d get you back on track. Oh!” Zuko suddenly reached over into his coat pocket and fished out a ballpoint pen from a small black leather planner be was also carrying. He opened the planner, ripped out a small page, and started to quickly scribble something on to it. “Let me write down some directions for you…”

Katara stared as he meticulously wrote out the names of various stops, street names, and trains and she grinned. “I know I already thanked you but...seriously, I really appreciate all the help. You didn’t have to go so much out of your way…”

“It was my pleasure,” Zuko shrugged. “It was the least I could do. Besides, my late uncle used to always tell me that speaking with fascinating strangers is one of life’s greatest delights.”

“An optimist your uncle, isn’t he?” Katara commented. 

“Naturally,” Zuko grinned as he folded the page in half and handed it off to her. “But he’s right. It was...interesting to meet you. Despite the circumstances of course.”

Katara smiled and decided that she really liked this person. Not everyday you ran into a stranger that was willing to go out of their way to make sure you got home okay and had written instructions to help you do so. Katara unfolded the paper and quickly looked through his instructions written in a neat cursive. It didn’t look too bad. It was only a couple of trains and she’d be right on track. It’d be a little annoying, but now she knew for next time to listen to some loud, blasting music whenever she went on the train to make sure she avoided falling asleep on another attractive man on the train. Although, to be honest, if all of her train rides were going to be like this, the detours didn’t sound so bad. 

When she got to the bottom of the scrap of paper, she suddenly felt herself smiling widely when she saw 9 digit phone number written across the bottom with Zuko’s name signed on the bottom. She held the paper between her fingers and showed it to him with a teasing grin. “A phone number?”

Zuko shrugged and rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. His cheeks were flushing just a little bit and Katara found the sight to be incredibly endearing. “O-Oh no, it’s not what you think. I was just...you know. It’d put my worries to rest to know that you got home okay. I mean only if you want to!” He said hurriedly. “It’s just...it’d bother me for the rest of the day not knowing if you made it. Not that my comfort matters. Like I said. Only if you want to.”

Katara laughed sweetly when he ended his ramble. She stared down at the piece of paper and tucked it safely into her breast pocket. “I’ll text you when I get to my brother’s house. It’s the least I can do for all the help you’ve given me.”

Zuko nodded and gave her a timid smile in return when the intercom announced that Katara’s train had finally arrived. The loud metal monster clattered noisily against the rails as everyone on the platform walked towards the edge, waiting for the train to stop and the doors to open. Katara stood up and adjusted her bag, facing Zuko and holding her hand out again. “Well, Zuko. It was very nice to meet you. Thanks for all the help. I hope I didn’t put you off your own schedule.”

Zuko shook her hand back. “You’re very welcome, Katara. And don’t worry. Like I said. I didn’t mind helping.”

The train doors were opening and people were already filtering into the train. But before Katara rushed on the train, she quickly stood on her toes, kissed Zuko’s cheek very quickly and walked backwards towards the open doors. 

“Oh, and by the way,” Katara shouted over to him. “When I text you, feel free to text me back, if you know what I mean,” she grinned. 

Zuko stared at her wide eyed for a moment as she entered the train, but he chuckled to himself and nodded in response once the doors were closing. He waved her goodbye as she pulled out of the station and entered the tunnels again, ready to go on another complicated and convoluted trip back to her brother’s house. 

Katara turned to the inside of the train and leaned her back against the doors. She eyed the piece of paper with the number written down and smiled to herself. She really hoped he’d text her back.


	6. Integrity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zuko has a little heartfelt, honest talk with her daughter while she’s fast asleep one night.

Katara yawned and snuggled further into the pillow she was cradling. “Is she finally asleep?”

Zuko reached up to rub at both of his eyes with the heel of his hands. His back was sore despite all the pillows they had piled onto the floor as a makeshift bed, and he wasn’t sure moving was going to work out to his advantage. Still, he sighed and reached out for the edge of the crib to help pull himself up. “Hold on, let me check.”

He managed to get himself up to his knees and lean his chin against the white lacquer wood of the crib. He peeked down into the mountain of pink and blue blankets and managed to see the top of their daughter’s head poking out. Her little hands had bunched up a corner of the blankets in her fists and had them pulled up just under her nose — something that Zuko was learning she did every time she napped. It looked like her breathing was finally regulated and her shifting had stopped. 

“I think she’s out,” Zuko whispered when he laid back down on top of the pillow pile he and Katara had created on the floor right next to the crib. He fell with his arms out at either side of him, and Katara immediately sighed out as she rolled on top of his arm and snuggled into his shoulder. Zuko’s arm bent at the elbow as his fingers gently played with Katara’s loose hair. “What time is it?”

Katara didn’t open her eyes as she reached over Zuko’s stomach and blindly reached around for her phone. She clicked the home button and groaned when she saw the time. “Like four in the morning.”

“Crap,” Zuko groaned as he brought his other arm to fall over his eyes in exasperation. “I was supposed to wake up for work in three hours.”

Katara snickered. “At least one good thing came out of maternity leave…”

“Ha ha,” Zuko mocked. “Laugh it up.”

“Well, the big strong man is the one that’s supposed to go and make the money and go to work,” Katara teased, patting Zuko’s bare chest affectionately.

Zuko snorted. “Did your feminist brain curl up and die a little as you said that?”

A small punch landed on his other unoccupied shoulder. “Shut up…”

A small whine sounded from the crib and Zuko immediately removed Katara from his shoulder knelt up in front of the crib and was prepared to lift the small one month old and rock her back to sleep like the two of them had been doing back and forth nearly for the whole night. But it seemed like it was nothing but a false alarm and Zuko allowed himself to rest his cheek against the wood as he watched the baby sleep. 

“...I think I’m gonna call out tomorrow,” Zuko muttered quietly. “I have a feeling she’s gonna wake up again sooner or later.”

Katara’s hand reached out to rub at his back. “Sounds good. Besides, the two of us haven’t been getting much rest lately. I’m one thing, but you have to work.”

“Yeah,” Zuko agreed tiredly. He reached into the crib and adjusted one of his daughter’s blankets, making sure that her arms were covered and that her head wasn’t in an uncomfortable position. He carefully lifted up one of her hands and slid the stuffed toy he had bought her yesterday back under her palm. 

Zuko really didn’t anticipate what being a parent was going to be like. It wasn’t even just the makeshift sleepovers he and Katara have been having in the nursery for the past week, although he sort of wished he was warned about that in advance. Maybe he would have taken paternity leave or something. Plus, sometimes the idea of leaving Katara alone with the baby during the day didn’t sit well with Zuko. He’d have to go into work the beginning of next week and ask about that. But having a daughter was probably the cause of some of the strangest and exciting emotions to flit through him at once. 

It was strange to see something that was theirs — alive, breathing, and healthy only a few feet away from them. Something that the two of them created on their own and could take care of, rear up, and love for the rest of its life. It was the oddest thing. Katara’s hair. His eyes. Her nose. His chin. It was all wrapped up into this tiny package, and sometimes he thought he had never seen anything quite so beautiful and fantastic in his life. Learning about how babies were created while he was in health class was one thing, but actually seeing the result in person made Zuko feel like he had to sacrifice everything he could to make sure that this small little thing had everything she’d ever need. 

Katara teased him about it all the time, saying that she didn’t think she’d ever seen him look at someone with so much adoration in her life, and she shockingly included herself in that exception. He wasn’t sure how true that was, but if love at first sight was ever a thing, it should only apply to parents and children. Nothing else would ever feel quite so powerful. 

Zuko felt Katara shift against his foot and looked down to realize that she had finally fallen asleep and was lightly snoring underneath him. He smiled fondly down at her and pulled their shared blanket over her shoulders. Katara had been so exhausted for this entire week, so it was good to finally see her get some well deserved rest, even if it was only going to be for the next couple of hours until their daughter needed to eat again. 

Figuring that it was his turn to be “on-call” in case the baby woke up again, Zuko decided to brace his arms on the edge of the crib and stay up for a little bit longer. It’s not like he was going to be heading to work in the morning, and a couple of minutes of lost sleep wasn’t going to be such a big deal. Besides, it was rare that Zuko ever got a chance to just observe their daughter while she was sleeping so still. Usually, she was crying her head off or trying to grab at everything she could get her hands on. 

He grinned. “You know, I can’t wait until you start sleeping through the night,” he joked aloud, speaking quietly to his daughter who was slumbering only inches away. “Not that I don’t absolutely love spending all this time with you but…” He leaned in conspiratorially and darted his eyes to Katara for a moment. “I don’t think your mom really appreciates you waking her up every two hours.”

The baby didn’t respond — merely shifted slightly in her sleep and kept snoring on through the night as if she were none the wiser. 

He frowned and found himself talking without thinking about what he was really saying. “Still. She seems so tired all the time, but she takes to motherhood like she was born for it. She’s so patient and gentle with you — like she is with everybody else — and it’s like she didn’t even have to prepare for it. She was meant to be a mother. Just one of things you learn about your wife as you get older, you know?”

Zuko frowned and rubbed the backs of his fingers against one of the baby’s hands. “Well, not like you’d actually know. That’s not until much later. But you know that I mean.”

He adjusted his position on the ground so that he was balancing on the balls of his feet. “I don’t know how used to this I’m going to get,” he admitted quietly. “See, Katara was always taking care of little kids when she was growing up. Babysitting. Cousins. Nephews, you name it. And forget it. Her father and her grandmother loved her so much and took care of her so well. I’m sure she had a lot to work off of. I don’t know that I’m that lucky…”

Not being lucky was an understatement if you asked Zuko’s father. Luck was apparently the whole reason he was even alive and functioning throughout his childhood. His father had no interest in whether or not Zuko was feeling happy or cared for. Zuko was only supposed to be grateful that his father was giving him food, clothes, and a roof over his head. As if he owed him something purely for being born and existing. He frowned. “My father wasn’t really much of a role model,” he mumbled. “My mother wasn’t around for very long. I was too young to take care of Azula, and by the time I was old enough, she wanted nothing to do with me. If it hadn’t been for Uncle, I don’t think I’d even knew what to do with you.”

The baby yawned in her sleep in reponse, and her hand unconsciously reached out for Zuko’s finger, clutching it in her small fist while she continued to sleep uninterrupted. Zuko smiled at her fondly. 

“I have a nice thing with Katara,” Zuko continued. “I was really insecure, self-conscious, and angry all the time when she met me. But everything turned around the longer I knew her. She made me want to...get better. Learn how to deal with things. Forgive my family. Move on. See, that’s how you know you’ve got the right girl: when she makes you want to be a better person than you’ve ever imagined. For future reference, of course. Your first tip from your dad.”

Of course the baby didn’t respond, but Zuko grinned pleasantly and continued to talk as he watched the room begin to get a little brighter as sunrise started to get closer and closer. “I’m not saying I have amazing advice or anything like that. And I’m not saying that I’m perfect, because God knows I’m not. I’m not really sure what I’m meant to do. But I’m going to try my best for you, I am.”

He reached up and gently brushed the thin hair across his daughter’s head. “You’re my new start,” he admitted quietly into the quiet room. “I want you to have everything I didn’t. I’ll never make you feel like you’re a failure. I’ll never make you feel like you’re not important. I want you to feel like you can do whatever you put your amazing little mind to.” He sighed loudly, suddenly feeling the weight of that statement after he spoke it and thinking of what a job it would be. “I mean, within reason, I guess. And pending Katara’s approval. For some reason she thinks I’m going to be spoiling you and getting you into bad habits, although I hardly see why spoiling you is a bad thing. But you know what I mean.”

Zuko swiped his hair away from his face and kept staring down at her daughter when he suddenly felt Katara’s toes flexing against his calf. He looked down and saw her staring at him with a sleepy smile, stretching her legs and her arms to get the kinks out of her joints. “You know,” she began, her voice thick with sleep. “You have quite a way with words despite what you may think.”

He blushed lightly and looked back down into the crib. “You heard all that?”

Katara chuckled. “You weren’t exactly whispering,” she teased. She reached an arm out and beckoned him back to their makeshift bed. “Come to bed. You can woo our daughter in the morning.”

Zuko rolled his eyes and grinned. “I wasn’t wooing her...I was being honest.”

But his wife shrugged. “The two aren’t mutually exclusive when it comes to you. Trust me, I know. That’s how you got me to fall in love with you. I’m sure she won’t be any different.”

Suddenly feeling self-conscious, Zuko leaned back onto his heels while keeping his hands on top of the crib and staring at the baby through the bars of the crib. “Are you sure?”

Katara sat up slowly, grabbed one of Zuko’s hands, and placed a couple of small kisses in the palm of his hand. She looked up at him fondly and smiled into his hand. “I’ve never been more sure of anything.”


	7. Maelstrom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first time Katara and Zuko had sex, it was filled with a barrage of biting insults, rough kisses, and a lot of angry foreplay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While I don’t think this warrants an M rating at all, this is still technically a tad NSFW for some strongly suggested illicit activities and less than subtle language.

The first time Katara and Zuko had sex, it was filled with a barrage of biting insults, rough kisses, and a lot of angry foreplay. 

It was sort of sudden when it happened, really. To this day, Katara couldn’t properly articulate how things escalated to the point where Zuko was pulling off her underwear and Katara was ripping the buttons clean off of Zuko’s button down. They didn’t even like each other. If anything, it was more appropriate to say that they sometimes couldn’t stand to freakin’ look at each other. 

Zuko thought Katara was a stuck up know it all and Katara thought Zuko was an entitled closeted misogynist. Their fights were known to last for hours since Katara loved proving Zuko wrong and Zuko loved making Katara angry just to showcase how completely irrational she could be. Sometimes, the fights weren’t even about anything important. Katara remembered a rather explosive fight that occurred in front of the library — that also drew a considerable crowd — because Zuko didn’t hold the door open for Katara when he saw that she was behind him. 

No, really. If anything, that fight almost came to blows. At least on her end. 

It was a tumultuous relationship, but it made sense. There was no need to second guess what they were to each other. They were enemies and they both appreciated the solid line that was drawn between them. 

But, one day, something clicked in the wrong direction. They had run into each other in an abandoned part of the library stacks since they were searching for the same book for one of their classes, and an argument quickly escalated. Something about Zuko thinking Katara had no right to anything just because she was a woman and something about Katara thinking Zuko was trying to guilt her out of the book because he was a self-righteous ass. 

Of course, neither of them had noticed that they were practically nose to nose since they decided to pick a fight in the small space between two bookshelves. It wasn’t until they had both stopped screaming at each other and let their anger simmer in the silence that they could feel each other’s breaths on their faces. However, despite this, neither of them made a move to get away from each other. They just stood there, faces nearly touching, glaring at each other in anger. 

And then Zuko leaned in to kiss her. 

And Katara, not one to admit to being caught off guard, kissed him right back. 

Okay, so if Katara was going to be honest with herself, Zuko was seriously good looking. She wasn’t blind, and it was perfectly fine to admit that. But she knew plenty of physically attractive people who were absolutely intolerable, and Zuko fit that description splendidly. Her stomach recoiled at the sight of him and she nearly always had to fight the urge to smack him across the face somedays. 

Then again, for someone she found completely deplorable, she sure did make quick work of his belt. 

Katara wasn’t a “wham-bam-thank you ma’am” type of person, but things escalated so much — and, damn it all, he was really talented with that mouth of his — that she didn’t bother to discourage anything that happened against the study table they had collapsed into. For some reason, it felt like stopping anything would have been a sign of defeat or apprehension and she certainly didn’t want to give him the satisfaction. Zuko conveniently had a condom in his pocket — ugh, what a playboy creep — and it didn’t take long before he had her sighing into the empty room and biting her knuckles to keep the noise down. 

They bustled out of the library in opposite directions once they were done. Katara had to pull her hoodie on to hide the hickey he’d left on her neck, and she realized with absolute horror that he had kept her underwear too. 

Still, despite the need for coverup for the next few days and being able to cross “going commando” off of her bucket list, it was like nothing had changed. They saw each other in the dining hall the next day. He sneered at her. She growled in response. It was like nothing had gone wrong. 

Except that wasn’t true, because Zuko’s cologne mixed with his sweat was probably the sexiest thing she’d ever smelled in her life and if she was being perfectly honest with herself, she didn’t think she had ever come that hard in her life. 

But there was no need to panic. They had sex one time. It was a...slip up! Yeah, a slip up. Momentary attraction. Close quarters making them act crazy. Nothing to worry about. 

At least until it happened again. Which it did. 

This time it was because Katara had scheduled a private study room for two hours, and was overstaying her welcome, much to Zuko’s annoyance who had the room for the next two hours. Katara wouldn’t leave until she finished her paper, and Zuko wouldn’t leave because this was his scheduled time, damn it, he had a research paper to work on. Katara said that she didn’t care, she had a lit paper to work on and that his sucky little research paper could wait. 

Zuko told her to shut up. Katara told him to make her. And, well...he did. 

By kneeling under the table, lifting Katara’s skirt, making her call out to God more times than she had ever done in her life. 

Then, because Katara was a lady and because she didn’t like to be shown up, she pushed him off of her, unzipped his jeans, and had him practically sobbing in pleasure by the time she finished him off. 

She didn’t give him a chance to say anything to her or to even recover before she pulled her underwear back up, grabbed her books, and sped out of the study room. 

Katara promptly went to the pharmacy, bought a bottle of mouthwash, and seriously started to reconsider her life choices. 

It wasn’t long before the need to tell her best friend about all this was unavoidable. After all, Toph had known Zuko for years — rich families knew other rich families well, she supposed — and Katara hoped that the girl would be able to shed some light on the situation. 

After laughing for nearly twenty minutes — “This is serious, damn you!” Katara shouted — Toph merely shrugged and said, “He obviously likes you, and you obviously like him. I don’t understand why this is so complicated.”

Katara gaped. “But! B-But...he’s awful!”

“Not really,” Toph pointed out. “See, I’m actually a bitch, unlike you Sugar Queen, and he treats me just fine. He’s only an asshole when it comes to you. To be honest, I’ve been waiting for you crazy kids to shack up for months.”

“Wait, you were expecting this?” Katara exclaimed in shock. 

“Well, duh!” Toph explained. “Your sexual tension makes people within a ten foot radius want to take cold showers afterwards.”

Katara was sure that wasn’t true, but she decided to ignore that for the sake of reminding Toph, “We don’t like each other. There is no sexual tension.”

Toph snorted. “Yeah, you’re clearly blowing him under study tables because it’s the ultimate form of payback.”

“Look,” Katara quickly interrupted in embarrassment. “What happened between us was just...a freak accident. We hooked up and that was it. Nothing else behind it.”

“Sorry to burst your bubble, Katara,” Toph said without an ounce of regret. “But when something happens once, it’s an accident. When something happens twice, it’s a wake up call.” She patted Katara’s shoulder. “I’ll be sure to steer clear of dark corners and closets and stuff just in case you guys decide on some more hate sex.”

At first, it was easy to disregard everything that Toph said. She had a habit of being too sarcastic for it to be healthy, and it was really easy for her to just write off Toph’s jokes as just that. Really horribly timed jokes that weren’t appreciated, especially now that Katara was going through a crisis. 

But, Katara was sitting in class that afternoon, three seats down and one row up from where Zuko was sitting, and was staring at his biceps for close to ten minutes because he had stumbled into lecture in his work out clothes and his hair was still wet from what must have been a very quick shower, and damn she remembered gripping those very same biceps like they were her lifeline a few days ago when he had her laid out on a study table. 

It was at that moment she realized that they couldn’t continue as they were. 

So she decided to be proactive about this entire affair and nip it in the bud before it got too confusing. 

So the next day, Katara marched to Zuko’s dorm room, knocked on it until he answered, and pinned him with a proposal before he even got over his shock at seeing her at his door. 

“Alright, look,” she said, holding up her hand to stop and confusing protests about her presence so that she could get through what she had to say. “I don’t exactly know what’s going on anymore than you do, because as far as I’m concerned, you still hate me, and I still hate you. Can we concede?”

Zuko stared at her suspiciously before reluctantly nodded and raising a brow. “Conceded. Now why are you here?”

“Because despite the fact that we hate each other, we also seem to like having sex with each other for whatever ill-conceived reason. And you can deny it all you want, but it seems like we both enjoy the hell out of it. So, I’ve come up with a solution.”

Zuko leaned against the frame of his door and stared at her in condescension. “And that would be?”

His answer was Katara pushing him into his room, shutting the door behind her, and kissing him for all he was worth. 

Zuko reacted immediately and grabbed her face with both hands so he could angle it to the side and deepen their kiss, his tongue already delving into her mouth and pulling moans from Katara’s throat. He had shed his t-shirt and she had shed her heels and her cardigan by the time they had collapsed on top of Zuko’s bed with Katara straddling his hips. 

He was sucking on her lips and cupping her ass when he pulled away and looked at her strangely. “Wait, this is your solution?”

Katara shrugged, unfazed. “We might as well be upfront about the fact that we’re attracted to each other, because I have no interest in spontaneous screwing happening on top of and under study tables. Besides. It’s just sex, right?”

Zuko still seemed a little confused, but he certainly wasn’t pushing her off of him. That must have been a good sign. “Right,” he said slowly. “Just sex.” He paused and glared softly at her. “But, just to clarify again: we still hate each other, right?”

“Of course,” Katara announced, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “This doesn’t change anything.”

“Okay.”

“Good.”

It was probably the stupidest thing Katara had ever decided to get herself into, but she and Zuko had then proceeded to dive straight into what would be a two month long “friends with benefits” arrangement. Although, technically, it was probably more like “enemies with benefits,” which tended to make things seem more confusing, so Katara just didn’t bother labelling it anymore. In front of the rest of the world, nothing would change. They would yell and argue and glare and be downright horrible to each other like normal. And of course, in private, when no one was around, they’d have mind blowing sex to ease the tension. 

For a while, it actually worked a little too well. Most of the times, at the end of each day, one of them came to the others room to spend the evening with each other, going on until they were too tired to even think of lifting a hand anymore. But there were times when Zuko managed to catch Katara in the empty computer lab late at night and also times where Katara would waltz around in the laundry room in nothing but her shortest pair of shorts and her smallest tank top right when she knew Zuko was supposed to be washing his clothes. It led to some pretty fantastic trysts against desktop computers and across folding tables. 

It was getting to the point where they couldn’t keep their hands off of each other. Whenever they were alone or whenever they could manage to get away with a few clandestine touches, they took advantage of it. Hell, she, Zuko, Aang, and Toph were having lunch together in the dining hall and Zuko was sliding his hand up Katara’s leg and right in between her thighs, making her bit on her fork and clench the side of the table while she hoped and prayed that Aang and Toph didn’t notice anything. When their foursome decided to study in the library together that same night, Katara popped off her shoe, reached her foot under the table to Zuko’s chair, and immediately dug her heel into the bulge forming between Zuko’s legs. 

Their inability to stay away from each other would have seemed disgusting to Katara if it didn’t feel so damn good all the time. 

Plus, without her really realizing it...it led to them fighting a lot less. 

It was hard to be in a bad mood when your sex life was active. Katara was prepared to accept that as a known fact. It wasn’t to say that they were friendly or got along now, but it was easier for them to have simple, civil conversations now that a lot of their initial frustration towards each other was being managed through...more creative outlets. 

Plus, whenever they felt a fight coming on, it was just so much easier to stop all the talking abruptly and scurry off to whoever’s dorm was closest. After that, the fight would quickly be forgotten about in exchange for some civil pillow talk. Katara briefly wondered if this was a testament to the general unimportance of their frequent bickering, but she decided not to pay too much attention to that. If it helped to get Zuko to shut up about things he had no business discussing, then she was perfectly fine with that. Besides, as the second month of their arrangement wore on, there really weren’t any fights to interrupt in the first place. And how had that happened?

Toph smirked at Katara one day when they met up for lunch. She brushed her thumb against her collarbone. “You might want to adjust that scarf of yours. That hickey is a little lower than you think.”

Katara quickly scrambled to adjust the scarf and glared at her friend while she was doing it. “Don’t you even dare…”

“Hey, I’m not saying anything,” Toph insisted innocently. “I’m just glad that the two of you have finally worked out your differences. Trust me, Aang and I appreciate the peace and quiet.”

Katara glared. “We haven’t...worked out anything,” she grumbled in response. “We’re just…” She paused. What were they doing? Was there a word for this? What were they mean to call this relationship they had found themselves in?

It was definitely a relationship, there was no other word for it. They were seeing each other rather frequently, even if it was just to have sex, and there couldn’t possibly be anything platonic about that. It didn’t seem like they had worked anything out themselves in the least. Not much talking went on amidst this arrangement they had. The only reason it seemed from the outside that things were better is because they found that there were much more fun things that the two of them could get up to without fighting. 

But that didn’t mean that they could actually get along, or heaven forbid actually start to like each other — could it?

They were resting on their backs in Zuko’s room after an enthusiastic last couple of hours when Katara turned her head towards him and asked, “What are we doing?”

Zuko frowned at the ceiling and put his arms behind his head. “What do you mean? I thought you arranged the terms to this. Aren’t you supposed to know?”

“No, I know that,” Katara mumbled, still keeping her eyes on him. She was tracing the line of his jaw, up to his ear, back down his neck, and across his collarbone. “I mean...what are we? Do we still hate each other?”

Zuko turned to her. “Do we?”

Katara bit her lip. “I mean...I don’t know. Things do feel different now.”

Zuko nodded. “Calmer?”

“Yeah,” Katara agreed. “...calmer.”

He turned over on his side, using his elbow to prop him up so that he could look at her properly. “You’ve gotta admit,” he told her. “I can’t really remember the last time we actually fought.”

That much was true. If anything, their days didn’t really circulate around fighting anymore. They circulated around when they were going to meet up with each other and how much time they were going to spend with the other. It almost didn’t make sense, because for so long their relationship revolved around how much they didn’t like each other. But Zuko was pleasant to be around when he wasn’t opening his big mouth, and Katara wondered if Zuko thought something similar about her. 

“That’s true,” she grinned at the irony. “Maybe Toph was right after all…”

“About what?”

Katara shrugged and turned on her side to mirror Zuko’s position. “Something about sexual tension or whatever…”

He laughed at that, and Katara found herself smiling return. Huh. She hadn’t really noticed before. Zuko actually had a really charming smile when he took a rest from sneering all the time. “Well, she wasn’t wrong I guess. Aang sort of said the same thing to me.”

Katara rolled her eyes. “How did we not notice that?”

“Probably too busy calling me a closeted misogynist,” Zuko teased. 

She winced. “Right. Probably…”

He shrugged good naturedly. “I mean, I guess I kind of deserved it sometimes. Although it’s strange because I only ever bothered to act like that around you. Don’t know why. You got my blood boulding for some reason.”

“I can relate,” Katara agreed. He had a point. She was never quite so pushy and bossy unless she was around him. “I guess we misinterpreted the source of all that boiling.”

Zuko laughed again, but this time he leaned in to kiss her instead. But this felt different than their kisses from beforehand. Usually, their kisses were immediately invasive. They went from zero to sixty in only a few seconds and sex was always the next step. But this time, it was slow and sweet with just lips and no tongue, and for some reason it felt deeper and hotter and more intimate than anything they had ever done. Zuko had never bothered to kiss her like that before, and she wasn’t sure what had suddenly changed in the past five minutes that possessed him to take advantage of changing tactics on her. 

But she couldn’t bring herself to really complain about it. It was so nice and this kiss made her toes curl and made her smile into this kiss. It made her feel warm and comfortable and safe, and she really liked that feeling. Possibly more than the electric, lust filled kisses they usually shared. 

They broke away softly, and Zuko was staring at her as if he had made a similar realization while he was kissing her as well. For a moment he looked like he was in awe, or like he was suddenly seeing something wonderful for the first time. He swallowed and suddenly asked her, “Do you want to go somewhere? Not to hook up or anything, but just to...talk. Or something.”

He seemed like he was unsure, or like he was asking something based purely off of instinct. Even now, the insecurity was showing on Zuko’s face and Katara noticed with some shock that he was actually nervous in front of her. It was leagues away from the cocky, self-absorbed Zuko she was used to, and she wondered if she was seeing the real Zuko for the first time in a while. That would make sense. That all of their fighting was really just a large act meant to hide some deeper inner turmoil and confusing feelings. It certainly wouldn’t have been the strangest thing to happen. 

Besides, it couldn’t kill her to see just how far this could go, could it?

Katara shrugged and leaned in again to press a soft kiss to the corner of his mouth. “Sure. Why not?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And with that, we have come to the end of Zutara Week. For as much as I’ve shipped this pairing, I’ve never written them until now, so this was rather fun. Thanks for going on this little journey with me and reading along!


End file.
